Monday, September 29, 2014

Over the course of researching a story about the
scientific impact of unusual names, I stumbled across a fantastic, but rather
suspect, data point. According to information posted on BabyCenter.com­—the
self-proclaimed “#1 parenting and pregnancy digital resource”—there were
roughly seven baby boys in the United States named Penis in 2012. […]

Public concern about Isis moves authorities to clarify
extremists are not knocking on doors and marking Christian homes

Haroon
Siddique

New South Wales police have been moved to reassure
Australians that text messages claiming members of Islamic State (Isis) are
knocking on people’s doors and marking Christian houses are a hoax, as concerns
grow about the threat the extremist group poses.

The text message states: “There are members if Isis
going door knocking on homes. They greet you with ‘Salam Alaykom’, and then
pretend they are trying to collect money for orphans. They come with a black
folder and ask you if you want to donate. I have just had one approach me at
home just 2 hours ago. Please - do NOT Talk to them or open for them.”

The message, which references areas in the south-west
suburbs of Sydney, exhorts people to “spread the word” and apparently convinced
enough people for the police to feel compelled to tell them that there was no
truth in it. In a tweet on Friday, the police included a picture of the
offending text message with “FALSE” written in bold red letters across it. An
accompanying message said: “Don’t be fooled by social media myths exploiting
the current political climate.” […]

SEATTLE — A man outside a Seattle bar was pricked by a
syringe and told, “Welcome to the HIV club,” by the woman who stabbed him,
police were told.

The incident happened about 12:15 a.m. Sept. 17 in the
500 block of North 36th Street, part of Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood.

The woman with a syringe, described as a white woman
in her late 20s with shoulder-length dirty blonde hair, was walking with a man
about the same age who was wearing a baseball hat.

As they walked by the victim and his girlfriend on the
sidewalk, the victim “felt a sharp prick and stabbing puncture to his left
tricep,” according to a police report. The woman made the HIV comment while
looking directly at him, the victim told police. […]